Cupiditas
by Celtic Amazon
Summary: cupiditas -atis f. eager desire , passionate longing . Esp. ambition; avarice, factiousness, party spirit . Xena and Borias trapped on a remote island...
1. SERPENTIS

_**"SERPENTIS"**_

_-- serpens -entis c. a snake , **serpent**._

"C'mon! You get to lie in bed for a few days, and at the end of it, I-" her laugh was low and sultry. "_We_, become invincible."

Xena popped another grape into her mouth, rolling it around with her tongue before biting into it, loving the way Borias watched her teasing, full lips.

The dark haired Hun eyed her warily, "What makes you so sure this Cho Mei will be willing to defy Daddy dearest and lead a couple of complete strangers to the family jewels?"

"Because," She rose from the small ornate chair, prowling closer to him, to wrap one arm around his neck and trail the fingers of her other hand down his chest towards _his _family jewels, "_Borias," _She spoke his name chidingly, her fingers begining a playful dance that sparked the hunger in his eyes that could always convince him to follow her where words wouldn't suffice, "I've been doing some asking around about the Chos, and it seems before The Moonstone made its way into the family treasury, Mei was betrothed. _Tragically _however," her voice dropped an octave as she began to work the buckle of his belt, "It seems he died of a mysterious illness before the wedding."

Borias' hand swiftly caught her own,stopping her progress, "That still doesn't explain why we don't just storm the fortress and take this stone and whatever else we want."

Undaunted, she drew even closer, until she could feel his hot breath and the heat rising in her own blood, "The island is too well fortified for a straight on attack."

"Xeeena..." He reached his free hand up to cup her chin possesively, "Even if we make it into this island fortress, how do we know this Moonstone isn't some peasant fable? I don't like the idea of wasting my time...especially when there are so many better uses to be made of it..."

He leaned in for a fierce kiss, but she turned her face at the last minute and nipped his ear seductively before whispering in it, "I know because I've seen it in action."

TWO WEEKS EARLIER...

"Load the wepons on first." Xena leapt gracefully from the bow of the ship to land on the docks. Her legs had only been healed a matter of weeks now, and the freedom of movement it once again afforded her still surprised her at times.

They didn't embark until high noon and she still had a few hours to kill before Borias arrived with the second half of her men. Then they were back on the open sea with their prow toward Egypt. She shared a brief nod with the two men that always made up her personal guard and set off through the docks district to see what it had to offer. The smell of the sea mingled with the smell of fresh fish, and all around her, hawkers and sailors shouted and cursed back and forth respectively. The buildings were all low and squat, gradually rising in tiers, climbing with the surrounding landscape. It was a poor section of the city and the docks. She had chosen it for specifically that reason, to allow her ships and cargo to remain relatively inconspicuous. So when the trio of rich sedan chairs rounded the head of the street Xena stood surveying, they were beyond out of place with their rich red silks, and richly dressed guard, armed to the teeth. The villagers around her fell to their knees instantly upon sight of it. A hand covered in ornate rings demurely emerged from the silk curtains to graciously acknowledge the signs of respect. The guards eyed Xena and her men critically, the only three in the street not doubled over in homage, but in the end decided to disregard the foreigners. The procession had wound its way nearly out of sight, when a great commotion rose among the guards as a a masked, robed figure suddenly leaped down from a nearby roof top and cut down four guards with a few deft sword strokes. Before the surrounding guards could react, the figure had stabbed the blade through the silk covering of the sedan chair, and the rich lord inside fell from his perch, clutching at bloody robes. Far too late, a member of the body guard plunged his own sword through the blue figure's chest, and his comrades added their own thrusts to ensure the job was finished. There was now a great deal of shouting in the square. and Xena motioned to her men to follow as she shoved her way through the crowd towards the chaotic scene. A man who appeared to be the head of the guard had approached the second sedan chair and was engaged in a clipped exchange with its inhabitant. From the third chair, a young woman emerged, despite the efforts of the guards and ran towards the bloodied lord. She knelt shaking at his side and shouted something in a foreign tongue to the handmaiden that had accompanied her. The maid reached into a large velvet pouch at her waist and pulled out what appeared to be a pearl, though it was larger than any pearl Xena had ever seen, and it seemed to have a strange green-ish hue to it. The rich young woman took the stone and held it near the wounded man.

"The Moonstone!" She heard someone gasp beside her.

The woman's companion nodded, "That Yakuza wasted his life trying to kill Lord Cho for nothing."

To Xena's amazement as she watched. The stone began to glow with a faint green light and within moments, Cho's bodyguards were helping him to his feet, where he looked distastefully at his bloody ruined robes and spared the girl who had saved him with the strange stone, a curt nod before climbing back into the sedan chair and drawing the curtain. The small procession disappeared from view, the crowd now too thick to pursue it.

TWO WEEKS LATER...

"Just think," Xena rose from the low bed, snatching up Borias' fur cloak to wrap around her shoulders, "A stone that can heal mortal wounds just like that," she snapped her finges for emphasis, crossing to the moonlit window of the captain's cabin, to gaze out over the open sea, "We'd be undefeatable in battle and they say it can cure any sickness on top of that. We'd be immortals...gods..."

Borias rose in turn, not bothering to cover his own nakedness, and crossed the small cabin, wrapping his arms around her waist and began to trail kisses down her neck. His hands found their way under the cloak, drifting lazily along her thighs as his lips descended to her shoulders.

She shut her eyes, drinking in the feel of his deliciously skillful mouth and callused finger tips. Once she had that stone, no mortal concerns would dog her. Nothing would stand in her way of conquest of any kind.

"Xena." a low rap at the door startled her out of her thoughts.

"It's midnight." Borias sighed into her hair.

"Good. Wait on deck for my orders, Dagnine," she called through the door.

Xena turned and found Borias' lips in a searing kiss. When she withdrew her tongue from the warm cavern at last, her eyes gleamed with anticipation for the power that was just within her grasp a few leagues inland. "Get dressed. Immortality's waiting."

Borias grinned wolfishly and released her to seek out the cotton shirt and leathers that lay already neatly arranged on a side table. Xena found her own attire, an ornate silk gown and slipped into it, taking up a small sheathed knife that had lain beside it.

"Borias."

The Hun turned to her and a mingled look of confusion and irritation crossed his handsome features at the sight of the blade. "I thought you said no weapons and no armor. Xeeeena, this is not the time to be straying from the plan."

Xena blinked innocently up at her lover, "Just a small adjustment. We need Cho to buy the disguise."

Borias shook his head and began untangling the ties at the side of his tunic, "We agreed we would claim to have escaped a slave ship from Jappa. Not likely we would wash up on the beach well armed."

"No." she agreed, "and we won't."

Borias looked up at her, his frown deepening, "Then what's the blade for if-"

His words were cut short as Xena skillfully unsheated the kinfe and stuck it deeply in his chest in one fluid movement.

He cried out and reeled away from her, "You treacherous snake!" he choked.

Xena laughed darkly and pushed him back onto the bed, "Watch your tongue Borias, or it'll be next." She reached a hand toward the hilt of the wepon still buried in his chest, but he managed to grab her wrist and wrench it away. His breathing had become laboured and he held a hand over the seeping wound. Xena rolled her eyes at his venemous expression, "Relax. I didn't hit anything vital, just muscle and tissue." She made another move to extract the blade, but Borias tightened his grip painfully on her wrist. She returrned his glare, "The longer this is in, the more poison gets into your blood, so either you let me pull it out, or I present Cho with a corpse."

"Poison?" He wheezed. Nearly all the blood had drained from his face.

"Had to make this look real didn't I?"

He released her hand, still glowering at her, though his eyes were getting glassier by the second. Just as swiflty as she'd rammed it into his chest, she pulled it free again, and he cried out a second time, though with more pain that surprise this time. Xena resheated the bloody weapon and picked up a small pouch from the table next to her, shoving it into Borias' trembling hands.

"Put this in the wound and stop looking like a kicked puppy. We have to get moving while the tide's still with us."

"THIS was not the plan." He ground out.

"No, but there's no known antidote for Teisis poisoning, so you might want to think about getting to the stone with the legendary healing powers."

Grudgingly, the Hun managed to smear some of the herbs from the pouch inside the wound and Xena hastily bandaged it over his shirt. Getting up on deck and into the long boat proved to be more of a challenge than she'd expected, as the poison she'd purchased the previous day began to take effect far quicker than she'd anticipated. Once they were out on the open sea, the rowing of the small craft was left exclusively to Xena, as Borias had little enough strength to lean over the edge, violently ill. His condition forced them to row considerably closer into shore than she would have liked, even with the cover of darkness. The approach to the island was made in silence, save for Borias' wretching and breathless cursing.The last leg of the journey, a swim, had to be shortened accordingly.

A furlong from shore Xena tossed the oars and retrieved a large axe that had sat at the bottom of the boat. "This is it," she whispered.

Borias lay unmoving against the stern of the small boat.

"Borias!" she hissed impatiently.

Groggily the hun stirred and stood up wiping his mouth with a groan. His face was waxen in the wan moonlight. He nodded blearily at her and stared down at the water below, trying to force his cottony brain to remember what he was supposed to be doing. Xena came to his aid with a sharp kick from behind that sent him sprawling over the edge into the dark ocean. Determinedly she hoisted the axe and in a few strokes had the little boat a pile of driftwood. She joined Borias in the freezing water, having to grab him under the arms and guide him to a piece of the shattered boat, to which he clung weakly. The tide guided them the rest of the way ashore, just as the sun began to emerge over the rim of the ocean to the east. Xena pulled herself up on the beach, cursing the silk that had become considerably heavier when wet. Beside her, Borias lay shivering violently. In the distance, the towers of the Cho fortress stood against the lightening sky. Any minute now, a patrol of guards would come thundering down the beach and she would spin the story she'd laboriously prepared about being kidnapped from her noble family and imprisoned in the Jappa fortress, and of course the cruelty of the wound inflicted on her betrothed captured along side her. Speaking of which...Xena rose onto her elbows and eased toward Borias' trembling form.

"Borias?"

There was no answer.

She hauled him none too gently from his stomach to his back, peering down shrewdly at his pale features. Her fingers went to his neck, feeling an erratic pulse. If he died on the beach, this whole thing went to Tartarus. She got to her knees and pulled him into a sitting position to better clear some of the saltwater from his lungs. A few sharp strikes to the chest and he'd coughed up a satisfactory amount. He hadn't woken however, even from the pain of her battery against his wounded chest. He was freezing, his body wracked with violent shivering. The earlier bloodloss and now the cold water, had done him no favours. She unwound the bandages to check the wound and grimaced at the angry waterlogged flesh. Careful not to further disturb the wound, she re-bound it and shifted Borias' position in her arms so he could benefit from more of her body heat. "Don't worry, Borias. It'll be hot baths and silk sheets soon enough."


	2. SERICUM

_**"SERICUM"** _

_--adj. Sericus -a -um, Chinese; **silken.**_

The sand around her was glowing golden in the bright morning sun, and Xena's legs had begun to develop a particularly nasty cramp from lying half under the unconcious Borias, when she at last spotted a cluster of horsemen headed towards them from the direction of the fortress. There were five of them, and she could see even from a distance that they carried Cho's green and gold standard. She licked her lips in anticipation, her heart going stacatto as if preparing for battle.

"Yu xing de zhu Cho Diao Xiong sheng yan xing!"

The leader thrust a threatening spear in her face, and it took a particular effort for her not to grab it and stick him with it in turn. Instead she put on her best look of maidenly

distress.

"Please! I don't understand!" she wailed, "The gods washed us up on this beach! We need help...my betrothed," she choked out indicating Borias' pale form, "He's injured! Please!"

"Chen mo!" the soldier barked.

Xena even impressed herself when she felt false tears stinging her eyes, "Please! I beg you!"

"Enough." From behind the spear-bearer an older more seasoned man in a green silk tunic stepped out to look down at the pair in the sand before him. He spoke in slightly accented Greek. "We bring them before Lord Cho."

Xena was helped to her feet by the green robed man and efficiently, the soldiers made a makeshift stretcher and hoisted Borias out of the sand. Xena's effected ferverent thanks to the older man went unanswered and she eventually settled into silence as she walked beside him and the stretcher, satisfied that she'd carried the rouse far enough. She was quite pleased with her performance in fact. A successful blend of all the pathetic pleas for mercy and weak powdered excuses for noble women from her experience had served her well.

It wasn't long before she stood in a cavernous marble hall, still surrounded by the small entourage of guards. They still carried the stretcher, unsure of what to do with the injured man, but unwilling to set him down for fear of their lord's expensive carpeting. The only member of the guard who spoke Greek had disapeared behind a rich silk curtain, presumably to fetch his lord, and Xena had returned to playing her role, taking one of Borias' cold tattooed hands between her own. She whispered some nonsense she assumed love-sick maidens would, while moving her fingers discreetly to his wrist to feel his pulse. It was still dangerously erratic. This was going to have to be one quick audience, or her entire plan was wasted. _Don't you dare ruin this for me Borias. _She directed her thoughts severely at her incapacitated lover.

"Lord Cho."

Xena turned away from the stretcher to find the green-robed man had announced a man that was much younger than the Lord Cho of the docks two weeks previous. Her brow furrowed in confusion a moment, before she bowed low. Something was going on here. Something not according to her meticulously laid plans, and she didn't like it.

"I am Cho Chan, son of the Great Cho."

_Ah, so he's the son_.

The young man approached her full of regal arrogance. "We don't have many visitors to our island, Lady, especially those that are uninvited."

Xena looked up at him from under dark lashes, making her voice quake for effect, "Please my Lord, I am Lady Corinna from Mycenae. My betrothed and I," She indicated Borias, "were sailing home from Chin to our wedding, when we were attacked by pirates from Jappa. NIkko, my betrothed, they did something awful to him..."

"Yes, I see," Cho interrupted her impatiently, "But that does not explain why my men found you on our shores."

Xena continued her best imitation of grovelling, "I _beg_ your pardon my Lord. The ship we were being held captive on...there was a terrible storm...we were in the ocean for days, clinging to pieces of the wreckage...only by the grace of the gods did we at last reach your lands."

The young Lord continued to look down on her distastefully. The sob story alone wasn't going to get her very far. But If he wasn't foolish enough to have some sense of duty towards a couple of foreigners washed up on his lands like drowned rats, then she could only give him credit for it. A rustle of purple silk at the edge of her vision caught her attention, and for the first time, she noticed the young woman in a luxurious kimono, that could only be Cho Mei. She'd obviously been observing the audience with her brother. Now Xena saw her chance. If she could win Mei over, the brother might follow.

"What reason do I have to believe you are not spies sent by my enemies?" Cho folded his arms.

"Brother," Cho Mei's voice was incredibly soft and smooth, though Xena was able to catch the faint hint of urgency underlying it; probably something to do with the sorry state of the soaked and bedraggled pair being interrogated, and of course the man dying as he dripped briny water all over her father's rich carpeting. Xena very nearly licked her lips in pleased aniticpation, "I implore your forgiveness that I would interrupt you, but I know in your wisdom, you see the Lady and especially her Lord have suffered an ordeal. Surely your wisdom would lead you to see to it that these honoured guests be tended to with haste."

Cho frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly, obviously displeased with the interference. He turned his haughty countenance on her, about to rebuke her for her audacity. However, Borias chose that moment to come-to with a truly pitiful moan, and Xena rushed to his side. Besides the act she was labouring to maintain, she had a vested interest in making sure a disoriented Borias didn't do or say anything inconvenient. She laid a firm hand along his cheek, so that when his eyes fluttered open at last, he was looking directly into her icy expectant gaze.

"'_**Nikko'**_My love! It's alright.," she spoke slowly, all the while trying to guage exactly, to what degree Borias was aware of his surroundings,"We're in the court of '_**Lord Cho' **_we '_**washed up on the beach'**_ But everything's alright now."

A few breathless seconds passed, then Borias reached out and took her hand, kissing it chivalrously , "Are _you_ alright, my love?"

Xena could have howled with glee. This was too perfect, this afectation of gentlemanly nobility, coming from Borias? Priceless. And as she flicked a furtive glance at Mei, she saw the woman was eating it up.

"Yes my darling!" Xena gushed, laying it on thickly now, "We're together. That's all that matters to me!"

This was truly disgusting. Even more so, that she had actually heard some lovesick girl utter those very words once.

"Brother," she heard Cho Mei quietly address the young Lord, "If it will please you, I will see to our guests immediately. I know you have many important cousels to take up with your advisors this morning. Allow me the honour of seeing to our guests."

Less than an hour later, Xena sat in a luxuriously furnished room, wearing a fresh turquoise kimono, awaiting the return of Cho Mei. The young noblewoman had left her to the care of her handmaids, and a steaming bath, and had gone to check on "Lord Nikko." Xena smiled idly to herself, despite the absence of the Senior Lord Cho, and the unexpected presence of his son, her plan was gliding along like an viper in butter. Whatever had happened to depose the father, Xena was confident it didn't stand in her way now. She had Mei right where she wanted her.

"Lady Corinna," Cho Mei floated into the room, a gentle, reassuring smile gracing her features. "I hope all has been to your solace here. You are a brave woman to have suffered such an ordeal."

Xena rose and bowed, meeting Mei's eyes, secretly scrutinizing. One on one the woman was just as calm and collected as she had shown herself to be in front of her lord and brother, her face a perfect mask of serenity and grace. But at this closer range, Xena also detected a bright glimmer of intelligence, and she could almost see the wheels turning behind the young woman's eyes, as she realized she was being sized up as well.

"I thank you with all my heart My Lady. You have been so very kind. But I must ask you, for I feel my heart might break from the uncertainty," _Nice touch. _Xena congratualted herself, "My Lord, my betrothed, will he...will he be alright?" She wrang her hands fretfully, as she strained her eyes for tears.

Mei reached out and took her hand compassionately, "I would not give you bad news, My Lady-"

"Corinna," Xena sniffled

"Corinna." Mei smiled warmly, "But I would not do you the dishonour of lying to you either. He has been poisoned."

"Poisoned? Oh gods!" Xena clasped her hand to her breast as if about to faint.

Mei gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, "Courage my friend, I see such great strength in you. I know you have the fortitude to withstand the raging tides of this misfortune."

There was something knowing in Mei's tone, that almost gave Xena pause, but she ignored the feeling that she wasn't the only one feigning "the appropriate, ladylike" naievety. But there was no way Mei suspected anything... "Will he live?"

"My healers have not been able to determine the origin of the toxin yet, but they are skilled, and I myself have much learning in the healing arts. I assure you Corinna, everything it is in the power of human hands to do, will be done." her voice became quiet, as the elegant noblewoman fought to keep the emotion out of her smooth tone, "I see such love between you and your lord. Such a thing is precious in the cosmos, far more than any material riches or power, in its purity."

Xena felt like a cat crouched over a pretty little songbird.

The room where Borias lay, was just as richly furnished as the rest of the fortress. The thought of all the lands, and all the fortresses, and all the many luxurious things she would fill her many fortresses with once she got The Moonstone was enough to make Xena's mouth water. Mei had accompanied her, and when she entered the room she felt the younger woman give her hand a furtive squeeze in a gesture of pure friendship, that to Xena was a deliciously pure weakness. Borias slept propped up by rich pillows, covered by silken sheets, in about the largest bed Xena had ever seen. His long dark hair was arranged neatly about his shoulders, and for the first time since she's met him on that gods-forsaken bit of backwater mountain, the braids were gone and it shone silky and washed. He was bare-chested, his wound carefully bandaged. Xena feigned shyness, before Mei indicated a stool beside the bed, where Xena sat and prepared for a particularly spectacular performance. She reached out a gentle hand and rested it across Borias' brow, calling gently to him in the assumed name, "Nikko..."

He came around slowly, meeting her gaze, with a vile dose of tenderness. He was ready to play. "My Love..." he whispered, "You look beautiful..."

Xena leaned closer, and timidly took his hand, biting her lip, forcing tears, which she simoultaneously feigned trying to stop. As skilled as any spar, either on the field or in her bed, he took her cues, moving with her flawlessly. He reached up weakly to wipe away the single tear she had laboured to shed, "Everything will be alright. Shhhh..."

"Promise me." Xena whispered going for the gusto.

"On my life..." Borias murmured tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Doing an internal victory dance, Xena turned back to her hostess with a watery smile, "My Lady I-"

Mei waved away her thanks graciously and bowed, "I will leave you two in privacy. If there is anything you require which has not been provided, you need only ask. I must go speak with my brother, but Corinna, perhaps you will join me in the garden later this afternoon, while your Lord is resting."

Xena bowed tearfully, watching Mei's back with shining eyes until the woman had left the room. When she was out of sight, an entirely new gleam entered her eyes, freezing them over with predatorial enjoyment. "Flawless. She couldn't have fallen beter into the plan, Borias."

The aforementioned Hun's fingers twisted suddenly in her hair jerking her head towards him, "THIS was NOT the PLAN." he rasped.

Xena grimaced, but turned it into a sneer, " Ah but Borias, you play the nobleman so well, never thought you had it in you."

She grabbed his wrist and twisted herself out of his hold. Leaning back on the stool. she folded her arms and looked down at him in amusement. "How are you feeling?" she asked full of mock sweetness.

The Hun glared at her venemously. "How long until you've conned the girl out of her family treasure?" he asked ignoring her provocations.

"Eight days." she chuckled, "All according to plan."

"Eight days..." he shut his eyes as a wave of pain and nasuea swept over him.

Xena smiled mischieviously, "Want me to kiss it better?" she croooned seductively, reaching to draw back the silk covers.

Borias caught her hand and pinned it angrily to the mattress, "Don't toy with me."

She smiled innocently, "What? Don't trust me anymore?"

"I'm not in the habit of trusting treacherous vipers."

Xena smiled, "I wasn't looking for _trust_, Borias."

And once again, she saw in him the old war between pride and lust. From experience, she knew it was hardly a fair fight, and Borias drew her down into a deep kiss.


	3. EPHEMERIS

**"EPHEMERIS"**

-- ephemeris -idis f. a **journal** , diary.

The gardens were bathed generously in sunlight, every kind of flower and herb imaginable, grouped by colour, meticulously labeled and cultivated. Small trees with twisted trunks and fan-like leaves lined the path of smooth white stones. A rather matronly looking handmaid, one of the few who spoke Greek, led Xena along it to a brightly painted pagoda, where Mei was sitting with a delicate parisol folded across her lap. She rose at the sight of the maid and her guest, bowing gracefully.

"Corina. I am so happy you've come to join me. These gardens have always brought me peace, especially in times of trouble. I can only hope that they are an equally welcome sight of tranquility to you."

Xena noticed the handmaid eye her misstress shrewdly before bowing herself away from the two women. She made a mental note to keep both eyes open around that one.

"Lady Mei, " Xena shyly joined her hostess in the shade, "Thank you so much for being so kind. And yes, the gardens are so pretty...so many flowers...but, I can't imagine someone as kind as you having any troubles. You must be so beloved by your people."

Mei's expression darkened a little, "The people were ruled by my father...and of course now my brother as of late...But, " her polite smile returned, "I am rarely outside these walls, and then only under strict guard, I do not see much of the people."

"And," Xena leaned in closer, all innocence, "You are not married?"

Mei's eyes clouded over and her fingers fidgeted with her parisol a moment, "No...No I am unmarried."

Xena watched her with concealed pleasure, "Oh! ohh...I apologize...I didn't mean to-"

"No Corinna, it's quite alright." Mei forced a brave smile, "I was betrothed two years ago. Thaan, my betrothed, he was a very kind-hearted man. We were to be married in these very gardens. But not long before the wedding was to take place...he became very ill. I sat by his bedside many days, but in the end I was unable to save him. My brother-"The noblewoman stopped suddenly as if snapping awake. "Yes well, these are things in the past. And life provides us with many lessons, even if it takes time to see them as such."

There was a hard quality to Mei's voice that gave Xena pause. She'd been told exactly what her sources and spies had already informed her of, but there was something else, something the woman had been about to say before she'd been stopped, or stopped herself for that matter._ Interesting_. But for the present, it was an opportunity to further sympathize herself with Mei that she couldn't let pass.

"Lady Mei, I am so terribly sorry. How horrible it must have been. I suppose I understand some of what you feel though. Nikko, I don't know what I'd do if anything should-"

she burried her face in her hands, which conveneintly hid her feral grin as Mei put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"My friend," Mei's voice shook with emotion, "I promise you, you will see your wedding day."

Xena looked up and produced her most insincere sincere smile, "And perhaps one day you will see yours."

Mei swallowed hard, "That does not seem likely."

"You are still very young and beautiful. Surely your father intends to find you another husband?"

Mei's eyes fell to her lap, "My father is dead."

_Dead. Now that's new._

"I'm so sorry! How dreadful. What happened?"

"He was assassinated." Mei's eyes remained downcast.

"That's impossible!" Xena growled.

Mei looked up startled.

"Er..I mean, your home is so secure and...one never expects such a thing will happen." Xena explained quickly.

"Ah yes well, the people were not very fond of him. He ruled selfishly, not concerned for their well-being, just how much wealth he could ammass on the peasant's backs- or so the people used to say." Mei finished hurriedly.

"And your brother rules now in his stead."

"Yes." Mei cleared her throat and rose abruptly, "Speaking of my honoured brother, I am to meet with him. I will entrust you to the care of my maids for the remainder of the day. Please do not hesitate to ask anything of them."

_Very interesting_.

Xena sighed and rolled over to curl closer into Borias' warmth, but found herself met with emptiness. She opened her eyes and looked down at the silk sheets disoriented a moment, before she remembered where she was. It was a few hours before dawn, and she was twisted in her nightgown once again. The past two days she'd gradually broken down Mei's defences, learning more about the tenuous relationship with her brother, and the much stricter guard he kept her under than her father. Apparently the elder Cho, though a tyrant to his people, had doted on his daughter in their home. The younger Lord Cho seemd to fancy himself a military leader, and saw his father's rule as too soft. The people of the island had been in for an unpleasant surprise if they'd thought the elder Lord Cho was a curse. The only thing she had had trouble getting Mei to give her any solid details on though, was the assassination of her father. It was a subject the woman avoided with extra care. It was vexing. How could a man in possession of the Moonstone fall to assassination? Equally vexing, Mei had neither mentioned, nor responded to any hints on Xena's part about the stone.

Borias was getting worse. He'd spent the last two days delirious with fever, nothing Mei or her people did, slowing the poison. Watching Mei bent over the feverish Hun with such a look of tender concern had been priceless, and of course Xena had put in a fair share of her own hours seated beside the bed, all pensive grief. The only true inconvenience however had been when he had begun to deliriously moan her name. Thankfully though, he had also spent a fair amount of time raving in his native tongue, and she'd been able to convince Mei that "Xena" was nothing of importance.

All around her was silence. The corridors beyond her chamber would be absolutely crawling with maids and servants, like a silken ant colony, in a few hours, but for now all was quiet; too quiet. To her annoyance, she hadn't realized how much she had become dependent on the sound of Borias' soft snoring beside her to lull her to sleep, or

to fill in the silences before dawn. She kicked back the covers with a huff and pulled a robe on over her shift. She was too irritable to go back to sleep now, so it was best to make the most of her timing, before the rest of the household woke.

The screens that closed off her room made a potentially compromising thud when she slid them back into place., but apart from that, her journey down the east corridor, and into the main tower of the fortress went unhindered and unnoticed. She'd asked Mei all sorts of seemingly naieve and harmless questions about her fortress home, which the young woman had obliged, and now Xena used the information skillfully as her mental map. There were store houses under each of the five towers Mei had told her, but judging by the layout, Xena was willing to wager that any valuable holds would be under the central, and most fortified tower.

Her guesses and pieced together information provided for her perfectly until she reached the ground floor of the tower. She knew she had to proceed underground to the hold, but as to where any stairs leading down might be, she was at a loss. Her hostess had politely, though pointedly kept her out of this section of the fortress, explaining that it was where the current Lord Cho carried out his private counsels. Xena stood in an elaborate marble antechamber, with latticed metal screens leading off to separate rooms on all sides. Idly, she cast about, before settling on the bright red entrance opposite her. This screen was significantly heavier than the simple ones that sectioned off the private chambers upstairs. It groaned as she hauled it aside. On the other side, was another thick paper screen, that afforded more privacy and she pushed this aside as well before entering into a small, tapestried chamber with a large round table in the centre and several decorative standing screens lining the walls. She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully as she scanned the room. It wasn't unreasonable to think Cho might have a hidden entrance. leading to the secure room below the fortress. Xena was crouching, running her hands over the joints in the floor boards, when she heard the unwelcome sound of approaching footsteps and an imperious male voice. There was only one exit, and Cho Chan and his advisors were headed to it directly. With no time to hesitate, Xena slipped behind one of the standing screens, as the men entered the room.

"...Dan ta men ke ji yi ge wei!"

Cho was in heated argument with the old man who had spoken Greek on the beach that first morning,

The older man continued, talking rapidly. Xena had some knowledge of their language, Borias had taught her while they'd been travelling through Chin, but these men were speaking a dialect, that was nearly impossible to follow. However, it was clear Cho was becoming impatient with his advisor, and he snapped angrily at last.

"Hen hao ran ze... wo men jiang yao bu de bu, da si mu gou! Dong ma?"

_Da si mu gou: kill the bitch. _That much she had understood. And since there was only one foreign bitch inhabiting the Cho family fortress..._Wretched little bastard. _But she had to give him credit: he wasn't an easy mark like the sister.

The conversation continued, though she didn't catch much else, besides a few unconnected phrases. This was one of those rare times when she' haved killed to have Borias by her side, save when that entailed coming to her bed...

Gradually, the tension faded in the small chamber, and the men began to converse in a much more business-like tone. The two other advisors joined the proceedings, and eventually a beaurocratic boredom seeped back into the men's voices as they went over more mundane matters. Xena shifted uncomfortably in her hiding place. This was begining to drag on, and she had a vested interest in being back in her bed by the time anyone thought to look for her. As discreetly as possible she dropped to a crouch, to peer from the crack between two screens. On her way down, she felt something scratch her back through the thin robe. She cursed inwardly, then thought better of it and turned carefully to inspect what has been sticking out of a wall she'd previously thought to be perfectly smooth. Just below shoulder height, she spotted it after some searching: a tiny coloured tile sticking out from the smooth wood panneling. _Intriguing. _It crossed her mind momentraily that if this was what she thought it was, and if it drew unwanted attention, she was rather unarmed at the moment. It was a fleeting thought. Xena applied pressure with her thumb, gave a few twists and pulls on the small tile, until there was a slight rasping grind, and the wood panel beside her swung back to reveal a dark, narrow passage way. The sound however slight, didn't escape the notice of the men assembled. Their conversation paused, the air filling rapidly with renewed tension. With no time to waste, she slipped into the darkness and deftly closed the panel behind her. She could hear Cho and the others scrabbling from the other side, shouting, and pushing the standing screens aside. Frantically, she felt along the edges of the panel she'd come through, until she'd found what she was looking for. From her robe, she pulled an ornamented hairpin, which she stuck in the mechanism of the secret door. That should hold them awhile. Now, all she had to do was find another way out...assuming there was one.

In total darkness, she used her hands on either side of the passage to guide her. The clausterphobic corridor ran for several hundred yards without light, until she came upon a grate just above her head, through which a small amount of daylight poured in. It revealed a narrow iron door in front of her. Blinking, rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the light, she peerd back the way she had come, but she neither saw nor heard any sign of pursuit. This was either a very good sign, or a very bad one. Possibly, she'd escaped without consequence, but it was more than likely that Cho Chan and his men lay in wait wherever this door led. There was really no choice, and she forced the door with her shoulder, bursting through it, ready for battle. But Cho's men were not on the other side. instead, she was met with a large stone chamber, lined with shelves upon shelves of musty tomes. Xena arched an annoyed eyebrow: a secret room, with nothing but books, and not even a chance to bash a few heads. In the centre of the room however, was something that caught her eye, a jewel encrusted box on a raised dias.Very important looking...she padded barefoot over to it, a satisifed smile stealing over her features when she realized it wasn't locked. It had been a fortunate coincidence, finding this hidden passage, and now, she was standing in front of a box, so laden with precious gems, she could have fed her army for year...What could possibly be inside if not the Moonstone? Eagerly, Xena flipped back the lid to reveal-

_a book? Yes, a book: a gods-damned, spawn-of-a-hydra__**book**_

Her internal tirade was cut short however, as she heard the sounds of multiple footfalls approaching her position, from the second entrance to the secret library. Angrily, Xena grabbed the smal volume and stuffed it into the folds of her robe. She slammed the chest closed, and dashed back the way she'd come. A few solid elbows to the grate, and she had it loose enough to crawl through to freedom.

It would have been interesting...trying to explain why she was coming from the gardens in her nightclothes, hands, feet, and the bottoms of her robe muddied from the climb out of the passage, but thankfully, she met no servants on her way back to her room. Two corridors away however, she heard sounds difficult to ignore. Several women were speaking in frantic whispers, interspersed with sounds of pain in a voice she recognized all too well. Evidently, she wasn't the only one having a bad morning. Her instinct told her to get to her room as quickly as possible, and hide her muddied robes, and the volume she clutched in secret, but the unprecedented panic in the voices of Mei and the others coming from Borias' room...that wasn't quite something that could wait.


	4. FEBRIS

**"FEBRIS"**

--febris -is f. **fever**.

Xena tucked the book more securely within the folds of her robe, and made for the sounds of distress. She found the women ringed about the bed, all looking to Mei, who was completely at a loss. Borias, who was now restrained at the wrists, strained against his bonds, growling half formed curses in his native tongue. He was a fearsome sight. The silk strips that bound him to the bed, had obviously been added as a measure to ensure the delirious Hun didn't hurt himself. A wry smile tugged at the edges of her lips, as a similar scene came to mind.

_A self-satisifed Borias smiled breathlessly up at her, "Going to untie me some time this morning? The men will wonder what happened to their commander..."_

_Xena shook out her tanlged hair, "What if I don't?" she asked playfully, begining to trail kisses along his jaw line until their lips met._

_"Mmmmm...Moj hatar..." he breathed tenderly in her ear._

_She fixed him with keen blue eyes, "I know that one," she murmurred, "Means..." her fingers played among his dark braids thoughtfully a moment, "my love..." _

_"Very good, " he purred. _

_Xena rolled her eyes, as she traced her fingers over the scratches on his broad shoulders. There were a few scars there already, and she felt satisfaction knowing she'd staked out and marked her territory on his body. "When are you going to teach me something useful, Borias?"_

_"Like what?..." he drawled._

_She drew back in annoyance suddenly, the dormant argument over his teaching her the Eastern tongues gnawing at her anew. The night before, the argument had ended with Borias neatly trussed to the bed._

_"Every day we get further east, and apart from a handful of the men, there's no one else who speaks Greek in these lands. How do you expect me to inspire the proper terror and command when these pathetic villagers aren't going to understand a word coming out of my mouth, and half of the men don't either."_

_Borias sighed wearily, recognizing the re-emergence of the argument, "We don't reach Chin until the new moon. That is more than enough time to learn the basics. Besides, " he added, defensive under her biting glare, "the nobility all speek Greek anyway."_

_She rose glacially silent from the bed, and began pulling on her shift and boots. _

_"Xena-"_

_"I'm not going to sit here and take this insubordination from you, Borias."_

_"Insubordination? I am not your 'subordinate'" he growled, his ire rising to match hers._

_"This is a power-play for you '__**moj hatar'**__" she sneered, "You want to keep control over the men, so you make it harder for me to command independently of you. You want them to see me as lower ranking. Well, "she put her hands on her hips, drawing perilously close to the now seething Hun, "You're obviously forgetting who the __**dominant **__one in this 'partnership' is."_

_Borias strained furiously against his bonds, but they were more secure than he'd thought, and Xena laughed maddeningly at his struggle. _

_"Nosi se!" Go to hell. he spat_

_"Kucka!" _

_"Fenka!"_

_Bitch._

_Bitch._

_Xena stormed out of the tent._

_"There you go!" Borias yelled after her, "Don't say I didn't teach you anything!"_

"Corinna!"

Mei was startled by her appearance at the door, "Zhao," she motioned to the shrewd older handmaid, "Lady Corinna does not need to-"

She was cut off by Borias, "Ja pravil te nista..." Though weak, his tone was dangerously low.

Mei blanched a little. Borias had all the aspect of an injured animal: weakened, but feral. It wasn't exactly the image of a gentleman, and hinted at something much closer to the barbaric nomad. Xena frowned at the glassy wild look in her lover's eyes. He was out of his mind. Not in the least cognizant of his surroundings, apart from the fact that he was injured and bound, something deeper and more instinctual had kicked in. Things could get ugly quickly. She brushed past the other women and made her way to kneel by Borias' side.

Forcefully, she took his face in her hands,"Nema vise." _That's enough. _She used his mother tongue in hopes of reaching him wherever his delirium had taken him now.

He continued to struggle feebly.

"Borias...Nezz ram," _look at me_ commanded. "Mirovati. Taj je red." _Be still. That's an order_.

When his feverbright eyes met hers at last, she reached up and unbound his wrists slowly, keeping vital eye contact. He searched her face hazily, no recognition present there, but he was begining to settle. Either that or he was too weak to keep fighting. She held both of his larger hands between her own, her fingers travelling absently over the raw skin of his wrists. The bonds had been tied carefully (she'd tied him to a bed with much more cruelty, many a time) but his own delirious struggles had caused him some injury. His eyes were growing heavy as he held her gaze, the adrenaline wearing off, now that he had calmed. When his eyes fell shut at last, it was with her name on his lips, a pained whisper.

Slowly, she released his hands, laying them carefully on the bed covers. He trembled pitifully in his sleep, beads of sweat gathered on his plae face. Xena's eyes flickered to the shallow rise and fall of his chest, trying to guess how far the poison had worked its way through his system. Gingerly, she laid a hand across his brow. His body was on fire. Fever was one of the symptoms she'd been promised when she'd bought the Teisis' plant toxin. The fever was high, but the presence of sweat was a good sign. A dry burning would have signalled a more serious problem. Borias had a few days left in him yet.

Xena felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, and turned to look up into Mei's dark, shining eyes, "He knows you voice. Love calls to love, even in the darkest of times. And of course, " Mei smiled gracefully tucking a few rebellious strands of dark hair back into her bun, "It doesn't hurt to know his native tongue so well."

Xena accepted her hand and rose as gracefully as she could, her robes crusted with mud as they were. From the corner of her eye, she caught the gaze of the handmaiden Zhao, who concealed a suspicious frown with a bow. "Lady Corinna, can I fetch you some clean garments?"

Xena glanced down at her soiled robes, feigning surprise and disguising her annoyance, "Oh my..." she breathed, "I went for a walk in the garden early this morning, and I hadn't noticed...how embarrasing," she smiled innocently at Mei.

Mei returned her smile kindly, "Zhao, please get Lady Corinna some clean clothing."

Zhao bowed her way out of the room, though not without a last shrewd look at the Warrior Princess. The two other maids present, followed demurely.

Mei offered her guest a seat beside the bed, and took a small stool for herself. The dark eyed woman surveyed the darkhaired man sleeping fitfully beside her with a compassionate look. She picked up a square of cloth from the bedside table and carefully folded it, before soaking it in cool water. Gently, she placed it over Borias' fevered brow, "You must have risen early to have been walking in the gardens already this morning, Corinna. Is everything to your liking in your chambers?"

Xena straightened her robes and fished for a polite smile. Mei was again showing that glimmer of percpetiveness, when their eyes met, and Xena felt a vague stirring of suspicion, that her hostess was more than she showed, "Yes of course. I was simply...worried about my betrothed. I wanted to clear my mind."

Mei held her eyes a moment, then nodded sympathetically, "I understand. But do not fear: I have had my best physicians working on an antidote all night, and I believe he may show some improvement as early as tomorrow."

"Truly?" Xena's voice quivered with false hope, but in the back of her mind, she made a note of where she had hidden the extra viles of toxin, should Mei, by some ironic miracle figure out some kind of effective antidote.

As she spoke, a richly dressed man bowed and entered the room. Xena felt her muscles tense. She wasn't sure whether he was one of Cho Chan's men, and whether her whereabouts that morning had been guessed. The man bowed to both women and said something to Mei, who rose and nodded, smiling radiantly. Xena watched them both warily until Mei turned to her.

"Corinna, this is Li Yun, one of the greatest physicians in the realm. He has been working tirelessly on an antidote for Lord Nikko."

The man bowed and Xena relaxed and rose from her seat, returning his bow.

The physicican said a few more words to Mei, and handed her a small flask from the folds of his robe. She said something, casting a meaningful look over Borias. The man nodded and Mei made her way back to the stool beside the bed. She sat gracefully and removed the stopper from the vial, pausing to smile encouragingly up at Xena.

"I have assured you that you will see your wedding day my friend, I pray the gods will grant this be one step closer to that day."

Carefully, she slid a hand under Borias' head and propped it up, holding the antidote to his lips. Mei murmurred somethig softly to him, and he managed a few fitful mouthfuls before she laid his head back gently on the pillows. Xena watched him closely. Gradually, the feverish tremors wracking his body slowed a little, and his breaths lengthened out. Xena discreetly grit her teeth in annoyance. The physician approached the bedside and placed two fingers along Borias' neck, feeling for his pulse. The man nodded agreeably to Mei, and she beamed at him and then rose and took Xena's hands.

"It is working. I will have my physicians create more immediately."

Xena wrenched her face into an expression of joy, "Oh thank the gods!" She cried embracing Mei. _Damn it all! Damn it all to Tartarus! Mei you stupid interfering..._"My Lady. how can I possibly thank you enough?" _Hades take your whore of a mother. Damn it, Damn it! _


	5. BILINGUIS

"**BILINGUIS"**

bilinguis -e having two tongues , or speaking two languages; hence **double-tongued**, treacherous.

Long dark hair pulled back severely, delicate earrings, painted lips; the likelihood of this face staring back at her from a mirror, had been something she thought she'd effectively erased. The phantom of Lao Ma's soft voice tantalizingly offering peace brushed against her memory, but she willed it away. Even after she's gutted Ming with such relish, Lao Ma had offered her her freedom, had offered her peace with those sorrowful but determined eyes. But they'd both known it was too late, and by the next night, she was back on the Steppes, tangled in hatred, in anger, and in Borias. He'd opened her like a gift wrapped in pretty paper, tearing the silk, freeing her hair, tangling it in his fingers, and she'd loved every second of it.

Her eyes skimmed the doors to her quarters, before she reached furtively into her cloak to retrieve the volume she'd stolen that morning from Cho's secret library. The cover was a patchwork of unfamiliar symbols, the small lock easily pried open with a hair pin. Inside were hundreds of pages of notations and entries written in the Eastern script. She read a little, but not enough to make any true sense of it. Damn. Not highly helpful, and she'd risked her neck for it.

A soft tinkling of the chimes near the partition of her room, alerted her to the older handmaid, Zhao's, presence.

"Lady Corinna?"

Xena tucked the book back into the folds of her robes.

"I'm here," she replied coming out from behind the ornamented screens, polite innocence flowering over her features.

"My Lady," Zhao bowed, "I would have speech with you."

Xena felt a twinge at the woman's, tone; serious and bordering on accusatory.

"Of course," She replied smoothly, Her right hand sliding up the inside of the opposite sleeve, toward her concealed dagger.

The maid folded her own delicate hands demurely, voice crsip, "My Lady, I am wondering why you have not sent a message to your father, or the people of Lord Niko."

Xena's fingers curled around the small, leather-bound hilt, "You assume no message has been sent."

Zhao's features narrowed barely perceptibly, "I am the palace notary my Lady, as well as fluent in nearly every tongue and dialect in the Eastern realm, as well as most Western tongues as well. The writing of a message would surely have gone through me."

"I see," the concealed dagger was nearly free.

"I would like to offer my services."

Xena paused.

"If you would care to dictate a message," the woman continued, "I would be happy to see it recorded, and sent where you wish. My Lord has many fleet vessels."

The woman was searching her features with unsettling shrewdness.

"Well," Xena nodded, "Then this evening, before sundown, maybe, you and I could go to a private area and I'll…dictate the message."

Zhao bowed her assent, "Yes my Lady…. Is that… 'ja red'_?" an order? _She added, mirroring Xena's words to Borias earlier.

Xena pursed her lips, steely blue gaze never wavering, " Yeah. It is."

Zhao hesitated a fraction of a second, before bowing herself out of the room.

Xena frowned. This had to be dealt with soon. She drew the concealed dagger. This evening before sundown precisely.


	6. EXOSTRA

**"EXOSTRA"**

_exostra- ae f. a theatrical machine revealing the inside of a house to the spectators._

Things were unraveling at a disconcerting pace: the suspicions of the handmaid, her fruitless attempt to find the Moonstone herself; and still Cho Chan was biding his time before he tried to have her killed. As for Cho Chan, she hadn't had so much as a glimpse of him since the incident in the hidden library, but it was far from reassuring. All of her inquiries were met with the same polite explanation: His Lordship was in council. As for Zhao, the handmaid stood at her mistress's side as usual, giving no indication she'd shared what suspicions she might be harboring.

Everyone, it seemed, was biding their time.

Xena twisted her face into yet another polite smile, as she reached for the bowl of rice. If she had to listen to another of Mei's dissertations about peasant farming and the local rural economy, she was fairly certain she would be cutting either her young hostess' throat or her own.

"…and of course it would be a simple enough reform, if my brother were willing to- ah…that is it would be perhaps a lengthy process of consideration when I know him to be so occupied with his royal duties…They've so greatly increased since my father's passing."

Xena swallowed her mouthful of rice, "Yes…your father…" She adopted her most sympathetic expression, willing the vexation out of her voice, "I simply can't imagine…"

She watched as Mei's usual flawless composure wavered, and seeing her chance, Mei's guardian standing over her shoulder be damned, she went for the kill, with no time of her own to bide.

"My Lady…I have heard…" she cast her eyes downward, feigning reluctance, waiting with coiled nerves for the young woman to take the bait.

"Corina," Mei smiled gently, "You may speak freely…"

"There is a legend," Xena measured her words carefully, "That you are in possession of a magical stone…with great healing powers-"

Mei's expression froze over in an instant, "How do you know of this?"

Xena was struck speechless for a moment, to find both the handmaid and her mistress fixing her with cold suspicion.

"I heard stories while traveling…"

Zhao had stepped forward, her eyes shooting daggers through the Warrior Princess.

"I would not ask but…but Nikko…I fear for him…" she played her dependable trump.

Mei's expression thawed, and after a few moments she poured herself another cup of tea. "I apologize, Corina," her voice was soft, strained under private emotion, "But you must understand, this thing you ask of-"

Zhao opened her mouth as if to stop her mistress, but Mei stopped her with a slight wave of her hand, "It's alright," she assured the older woman.

"My Lady-"

"Zhao, please fetch more tea."

The handmaid bowed her way out of the room obediently, but not before she'd pinioned Xena with another poisonous glare.

No matter: Xena took a long sip of tea, this problem with the maid ended tonight.

"The legends are true," Mei confided in a low voice, once they were alone, "I was once in possession of such a thing."

"Was?" Xena had to loosen her hold on the delicate teacup to keep it from shattering.

"I suppose," Mei continued, softly, "that my family still is, though I have not seen the Moonstone, as it is called, since my father's death. Were this not so," Mei smiled sadly, I would have happily used it to help Your Lord."

"Has it been destroyed?" Xena felt the heat rise in her blood; to have come all this way for nothing…

"No," Mei shook her head, "I do not believe my brother would have it destroyed."

"But you don't know where it is and he won't give it to you?" Xena's eyes narrowed.

"I'm afraid it is more complicated even than that. My brother shares the belief that the Moonstone's powers are not for those outside our bloodline. Not even the man I was to marry…"

"Your betrothed…" Xena whispered, in awe, "You had the moonstone then, but your father wouldn't let you use it."

You had to give the Cho's credit, they knew how to hold onto power impeccably.

"Only my brother and I knew this, we-"

Zhao returned with the tea, and Mei skillfully directed the conversation back to the mundane.

The sun sank with a foreboding bloody aura, crimsoning the gardens and the fast walls of the Cho fortress. Standing now in the garden's glass conservatory, Xena watched the foliage around her slowly lay its shadows over the flawless walks and ponds. She didn't have to wait long before a singular silk-robed figure glided out of the trees towards her. The handmaid had come alone. Xena slowly drew her weapon as the woman approached. Surely the older woman held no illusions that she was here to compose a message.

As Zhao slowly drew aside the doors, Xena leapt at her, dagger drawn. She was unprepared when the older woman stepped deftly aside drawing her own pair of sais from the voluminous sleeves of her robe.

Xena grinned, "She has claws."

Zhao twirled her weapons in a skilled arc, unintimidated, "You may have deceived my mistress, but I know an assassin when I see one."

The woman lunged at her, vaulting nimbly off the rim of the indoor Koi pond. Xena barely managed to leap out of the way, tossing aside her dagger in favour of a large pruning hook.

"Assassin, huh?"

she feigned a blow that would have decapitated her opponent, aiming at the same time to kick the older woman's feet out from under her. Zhao ducked the feint and leapt out of the way of the second attack, catching Xena under the chin with a swift kick that sent the Warrior Princess reeling back into a shelf of pottery. It collapsed on top of her pinning her under its weight.

"Many have tried to kill Lady Cho, many more worth my while than an adder like you." Zhao approached calmly, though breathing hard.

Xena grunted, trying to free herself, "First 'assassin' and now 'adder'…" She braced the heavy mahogany with her shoulder, " But you're not as observant as you like to think."

Zhao paused.

"I couldn't care less about your mistress." Xena gripped the edge of the pond.

"The Moonstone."

In one fluid motion, Xena tossed aside the load pinning her clipping the handmaid with it, sending her sprawling. Zhao scrambled for her weapons, but Xena was quicker, hauling her to her feet and putting the pinch on her before she could so much as cry out.

Xena cringed as pain flared through her probably dislocated shoulder, "I just cut off the flow of blood to your brain. You'll be dead in thirty seconds…that is…unless maybe we have a little chat."

Zhao glared but offered no further resistance.

"Where's the Moonstone?"

"I don't know."

"Twenty seven seconds left…"

"I don't know."

"Alright, let's try something different." She produced the book she'd stolen from Cho, "What is this?"

"It has Cho Chan's emblem…but I don't recognize it."

"Twenty seconds…"

She opened the first page.

"I hope you're a fast reader."

"I can't possibly-"

"Fifteen."

Zhao choked as the blood started to run from her nose, "That is the date of Lord Cho's death…and his whereabouts for the day…and the name of…of his killers."

"What are the names?"

"I don't-"

"Five, four-"

"Cho Chan and Cho Mei!"

Xena nearly dropped her captive.

"Please!"

She removed the pinch and Zhao fell to the floor gasping.

"Really took the whole fiance thing personally didn't she?"

Zhao struggled to her knees, "Give me the book."

Xena cocked an eyebrow, "And why should I do that?"

"Perhaps we can come to some kind of agreement."

"Like what exactly?"

"I'll get you the moonstone."

Xena snorted, "How stupid do you think I am? Why are you so desperate to read what's in here anyway?" she tapped the small ornate book.

"I have come to believe her brother is planning to kill her," Zhao drew herself cautiously to her feet. "Together, we could get my lady beyond the fortress walls, and I'm sure if we came back in force, it would only be a matter of time before I found where Chan is hiding the Moonstone."

"First he kills Daddy and then sis? Sounds like-"

She was cut off by the sound of shattering glass and a sharp whine and corresponding dull thud as several arrows slammed into the handmaid. Outside the conservatory, Cho Chan's men materialized out of the trees. Xena hurriedly shoved the small book back into her robes, as the armed contingent approached her.

"Lady Corina," the captain addressed her in Greek, "Are you alright?"

"Yes I…I think so…" Xena watched the men around her carefully, "I was dictating a message to be sent to my father when this woman attacked me…"

"We believe her to have been an assassin, sent by the local Yakuza. It is fortunate we got here in time."

Xena nodded, satisfied as the men sheathed their weapons.

She was lead to her room by an unarmed escort. She listened to their footsteps recede down the hall. So perhaps, Cho Chan was more oblivious to her purposes than she'd thought Damn the inconvenience though:. Just when Zhao was promising some semblance of usefulness. Now she was back where she had started. And as for Mei….she grimaced as the pain in her shoulder refused to be ignored. Mei would learn of Zhao's demise at the hands of her brother's men. She would be alone now. "Corina" was now effectively her only ally. Not even the excruciating pain of jamming her shoulder back into place could wipe the satisfied grin from her face.


	7. SOLIUM

**"SOLIUM" **

-i n. (1) a chair of state , throne; hence dominion, **regal** **power** (2) **a bathtub**.

Soon, Xena was standing at the entrance to the room where Borias lay, mustering herself for the all important performance she was about to give. She took a deep breath and drew aside the screen, to find the room, and the bed, empty. As she entered, she saw no sign of a struggle and nothing disturbed. The vacant bed was neatly made with fresh sheets. Alarm boiled and blossomed in her brain.

She was startled by the sudden appearance of a young girl in the doorway, carrying linens.

"Where is he?" she demanded.

The young girl, bowed apologetically, dark eyes round with fear. Xena bit back her frustration with a will and repeated her question, indicating the empty bed. Understanding and relief stole over the girl's features and she gestured down the corridor behind her. Xena cursed inwardly as she was guided to a larger room with green and gold screens lending it privacy.

Inside, she found a luxurious bath, with low glass sconces lighting the windowless room. The floor was inlaid with stunning turquoise tile and in the centre of the room was sunk a polished marble tub. Here she found Borias, resting peacefully, while Mei herself carefully rinsed his dark hair. Xena stood unmarked for the moment, watching as the young woman's fingers glided across his temples in a soothing caress. Unconscious, vulnerable, Borias, slept peacefully under her ministrations. Rough stubble had grown in around his jaw, and Mei's fingertips stroked across it softly as she picked up a cloth and began washing gingerly around his healing wound.

"Hello Corinna."

Xena started as Mei met her gaze, "He looks better," she managed, her eyes sliding back unbidden to Mei's graceful hands. There was a faint burning at the base of her throat.

"Yes," Mei agreed, never wavering, "Although it must be difficult seeing him like this."

The young woman combed through the shining dark strands, her pace slow and rhythmic as she reached the Hun's muscular shoulders, smoothing away the tension.

Xena felt a muscle in her jaw twitch, "Yes," she agreed, "Although your _technique_ seems to be helping."

Borias was completely pliant under her touch. The drugs and the fever had sunk him into a state of languorous semiconscious.

Cho Mei paused, "He's not usually vulnerable like this is he?"

"No…" Xena swallowed hard as she was seized by the sudden urge to wrest Borias from her.

Mei drew the cloth across the tender flesh of his throat, eyes locked with the Warrior Princess, something new stirring in the depths of the younger woman's eyes, "He's not usually defenseless…"

"No," an unbidden sense of respect, and a sense of immediate danger were now mixing freely in Xena's gut.

Without warning, Cho Mei reached behind her, producing an ornate blade. She drew it to Borias' jugular, before Xena could so much as take a step toward her.

"Please, Xena, sit." She gestured to a nearby cushion, "Bloodshed is the last thing I want, but you must understand, you've left me very few alternatives."

Things had taken an unexpected turn.

"So you know who I am."

No sense in denying it.

"Yes," Mei held her head proudly, "I am not so much a prisoner in my own house, as you may think. I have had frequent contact with the kingdom of Chin."

Xena held her ground, "Then you probably also know, threatening someone who pretty recently sold me out to my enemies," she indicated Borias, "may not be the best leverage you've got."

Mei's confident composure wavered.

"It's not a bad plan…" she gestured to the knife, and spared the room an appraising look, "but what makes you think I won't let you do the honours of slitting his throat?"

Mei tightened her grip on both the blade and Borias.

"But you won't, will you? You don't have it in you to butcher poor, helpless, handsome Borias."

Mei blushed fiercely.

Xena couldn't resist putting the impetuous young woman back in her place.

Xena shook her head, chuckling, "I knew the moment you laid eyes on him, you wouldn't be able to resist trying to rescue him like some stray puppy…or like your poor, dearly-departed fiancé."

Mei looked as if she'd been struck.

"So let's drop the games."

Furiously, Mei grabbed Borias' jaw, pressing the blade into his skin until it drew a trickle of blood. He gasped weakly, eyes fluttering as he fought unconsciousness. "What makes you think I have any qualms about killing a man no doubt sent to kill me?" her voice had taken on a low, jagged quality Xena wouldn't have credited her with until now, "Although I'm impressed with the act. What did you use to simulate poisoning?"

Xena smiled humorlessly, "Oh, the poison's real enough; teisis. Nasty stuff."

Borias gave a pained groan.

"I see. You play off my sympathies, and gain my trust, waiting for the opportunity to strike."

"Your maid told you I was an assassin."

"Zhao was my loyal bodyguard."

Xena licked her dry lips as the blade bit further into Borias' flesh and the Hun began to struggle deliriously to little effect. Mei had been complicit in her father's murder according to Zhao, but could she kill a man with her own hands? The temptation to see how far she could push the young woman was intriguing.

"You were in the garden when she was killed." Mei's voice was dangerously low.

"Maybe. But I'm not the one who turned her into a pincushion."

Mei took a deep breath, fighting for composure.

"She was a liability. Knew too much about you; too much about the part you played in dear old dad's death. And what's more…she knew you were next."

Borias gasped, as his eyes flew open. Mei loosened her grip. He was fighting for every breath now.

"The poison has worked its way into his lungs." Mei informed her.

Borias choked pitifully.

"What about the antidote?"

Mei smiled light-headedly in spite of herself, "It was only a temporary fix."

Xena cursed, closing the distance between them. Mei raised the blade defensively, but Xena ignored her, vaulting over the side of the tub, and splashing into the warm water.

"Put that away."

Mei hesitated for a brief second, before surrendering her position to the fuming Warrior Princess. Xena fought around her wet robes, to get a hold of Borias. The Hun continued to cough and wheeze, his lips turning blue. Not good.

"Borias! Look at me!"

His frantic dark eyes found her face, with surprisingly more lucidity than she'd seen for days.

"Calm down. Easy, Borias…"

She infused her voice with a softness she usually reserved for calming a frightened horse, as her fingers searched his chest for just the right spot… His muscles were strung tighter than a bowstring. She needed him calmer in order for this pressure point to work…He seized wretchedly in her arms, another gift from the teisis…and still he wasn't getting any air.

"Easy now…easy…Borias."

His name on her lips had always worked wonders, and she felt the tremors subside slightly as she braced him in the water. At last, her fingers found just the right spot, and with a quick jab and twist, she'd loosened the muscles framing his ribs enough to ease the pressure on his lungs, enough for now.

"That's it…good…easy…" she murmured as his breaths lengthened out.

Mei stared at her, perched on the edge of the tub, her own robes now soaked as well, a slight ironic smile playing across her face, "You would not have let me kill him."

Soaking wet, cradling a semi-concious Borias, Xena glared up at the younger woman.


	8. NECESSITAS

necessitas -atis f. [inevitability , necessity, urgency]; plur. [requirements, necessary **expense**s]. Transf. [intimate connection, friendship, relationship].

Mei took a cautious step back from the seething warrior princess.

"What did you mean when you said I was next?"

Xena ignored the question, taking Borias under the arms and hauling him out of the water, with some difficulty, to lay him flat on his back on the tiles.

"Gutsy," she muttered wryly, covering him with a robe that lay nearby, "Gotta give you credit for that thing with the knife."

"You think my brother is going to have me killed…"

Xena looked up at her, pushing back a dripping strand of hair, "I think you might want to think real hard about getting in my good graces, before your dear-sweet brother offs you and conveniently frames the foreigners staying as your guests."

Mei stood silently, fingering the dagger.

Xena shook her head and laid her fingers along Borias' pulse. It was weak and thready, and he'd slipped back into unconsciousness, "From where I sit, you don't have a great many options at the moment. The problem with an impenetrable fortress tends to be, that leaving when you really need to can be a real hassle. So I'm going to make you a nice little proposal," She rose so she was eye to eye with Mei, "You get me the Moonstone, and I get you off the island."

Mei frowned suspiciously, "I would like to know how you propose to get out of the fortress _and_ off the island."

Xena rolled her eyes, "You really think I'd come all this way to defraud you of your most valuable family heirloom and not plan an escape route?"

"If this is so, then how soon?" Mei asked, rearranging her dripping robes.

"You'll take me to the stone at sundown. At nightfall I take you to the beach."

Mei tucked the ornate dagger back into the folds of her robe, "And I should simply take you at your word?"

Xena smirked, "You have some other option I'm not aware of?"

Mei hesitated adjusting her hair brooch, "And what about him?" She indicated Borias.

"Borias?" Xena shrugged, "Well I'm sure he hopes you come through with that pretty stone of yours."

"Xena," Mei's voice softened as her eyes fell on Borias, "His strength might not hold that long."

Xena fixed her levelly, "You and I only have one concern right now: I want that stone."

Mei gave her a strange look, before shaking her head, "As you say."

An hour later, Xena sat once again at Borias' bedside. Mei had been summoned to meet with her brother. She did so surrounded by her maids, fearing to tread alone in her own house now. She took the serving women with her under the pretence of needing companionship in the grief at Zhao's death. Xena chuckled dryly, trying to imagine what story Cho Chan was concocting to explain the porous corpse in the garden. Chan still had a few cards to play she suspected, but with any luck, he hadn't anticipated Mei's awareness of his plans, or the alliance she's struck with Xena. If luck was on her side, Chan was still thoroughly convinced by Mei's well practiced naïve noblewoman act.

Borias took another shuddering breath beside her, his hands fisting feebly in the coverlets. The Teisis had eaten through every treatment, every painkiller thrown at it, just as she'd been promised. Even the Hun's considerable pain tolerance was little match for the toxin. She watched him in silent fascination, reaching out after another couple of violent tremors had rocked his frame, to lay a hand alongside his rough cheek. The heat pouring off of him was incredible. He leaned deliriously into her palm, and a strange feeling passed through her.

She was using him. Of that she'd never had any doubt, but something stirred in her, feeling him seek out the comfort of her touch. Gently, she traced the line of his jaw with her thumb, stroking across the stubble, transfixed as he sank further into her caress. She'd touched him much more intimately a thousand times before, but this was different…

Suddenly, she heard the sounds of approaching footfalls in the corridor; several approaching footfalls, marching in rank order by the sounds of it. _Damn_. Apparently the strategy of lay low and wait for Mei to bring her her prize before Cho Chan figured out what was going on under his nose had outlived its usefulness. Xena knelt beside the bed, groping underneath until her fingers found what she was seeking. Swiftly, she drew the sais; Zhao's sais. Snatching them up in the greenhouse had been a stroke of brilliance she now congratulated herself on as the screens partitioning off the room were thrown aside as a contingency of armed guards swarmed into the room. At their centre, was Chan.

He raised his hand to call a halt, the first two of the dozen or so men already standing in the doorway, katanas drawn.

"Xena. Put down your weapon and I will be more inclined to extend my mercy towards you,' Chan looked past her to Borias, lying prone on the bed, "Do not be foolish. Perhaps you might fight off some of my men yourself, but your _companion_ would fare with worse odds I think. Consider his life in the balance as much as your own."

Xena snorted, "What is it with you people? You can cut Borias here into pretty little pieces for all I care. And speaking of fools, I'm surprised you've finally scraped enough brains together to get this little outfit," she waved the sais nonchalantly at the armed guard, "all put together."

Chan glared at her from behind the wall of swords and pikes, "This is your last chance Warrior Princess. I will not offer my clemency again."

" 'Clemency,'" Xena chuckled, "Like you showed dear old dad?"

Chan's face grew white with rage, " Qin zhi!"

The men rushed into the room. Large as it was, they filled it quickly. Xena held her ground in front of Borias. The first guard thrust at her with his pike. She caught it between her sais, causing him to lurch forward, as she kicked out and sent another guard sprawling. She wrenched the entrapped spearman forward, throwing him off balance, before driving her left sai in just above his collar bone. A lithe man swinging a katana rushed at her from her left, as another burly spearman lunged from her right. She leaped over the second man's strike, landing on the bed, standing astride Borias' prostrate form. The spearman narrowly missed his katana wielding comrade, instead, slamming the head of his great weapon into the wall behind. Xena moved quickly to grab the man with the sai still firmly embedded in his shoulder, using him as a human shield as a katana sliced at her, before promptly ripping the sai free and shoving away the corpse. The butt of a pike caught her off guard, smashing painfully into the back of one of her knees. She went down, landing none too gently on Borias. She barely noticed the sweep of another katana arcing down set to decapitate Borias and not exactly miss her either. Swiftly, she grabbed hold of the Hun's shoulders and dragged him out of harm's way. The blade sliced into the mattress, sending white feathers flying. Xena dropped Borias to the floor, leaping over the bed and burying her sais in the chests of two men unsuccessfully battling the feathers thickening the air. As she tore her weapons free, she felt a fist connect with her right temple. Black sparks dazzled her vision and she stumbled back, shaking her head, narrowly missing a slash aimed for her midsection. From behind, a spear and a strong pair of arms locked her in a choke hold. She elbowed her assailant hard in the ribs, but she was winded by the blow of the butt of a pike to her stomach, and she dropped her sais. It took four men to hold her down and bind her hands. Once this was done, Cho Chan entered the room, looking distastefully at the mess made of the fine room.

"That was a very expensive bed."


	9. CAPTIO

"**CAPTIO**"

-onis f. (1) [a cheat , **deception**]. (2) [harm, loss].

Drip.

Drip.

Drip-

_Gods-damn-son-of-a-bacchae._

Wincing, Xena came-to and sat up and took in her surroundings. She found herself lying on an unforgiving wooden plank, anchored to a stone wall; one of four trapping her in a cell.

"Perhaps, Xena, you could enlighten me once again, on _how_ we are going to escape from the island."

_Great_. Mei was in here too.

The Lady of the Cho household stood near the barred door to the cell, regarding her with finely arched eyebrows.

"And let me guess," Xena returned her sour look, "You don't have the stone."

Mei folded her hands precisely and went back to examining the door, "I did not have the opportunity."

"Swell," Xena muttered, "Absolutely fantastic. Chan's probably moved the hiding place now too, if he has half a brain."

"Xena," Mei rounded on her once again, "I would not presume to tell you what to do, but perhaps it might be wise to turn our thoughts to the more immediate problem at hand."

Xena snorted and swung her legs around, stretching her stiff back, "The door's re-enforced iron, and the walls are stone. The lock can't be picked from the inside, and yes," she popped her stiff shoulder, I can tell all that just fine from over here. Besides-"

She stopped, noticing Borias for the first time. The Hun occupied the other cramped wooden bench in the small cell, tucked in a shadowy corner. Mei followed her gaze.

"Yes, they have imprisoned the three of us together, and tomorrow we are to be executed: me for the murder of my father, and you and Borias for attempting to assassinate my brother, apparently on my orders."

Xena got up and crossed to Borias' prone form, "You Cho's sure know how to plot a good cover-up don't you?" she knelt at his side, removing her outermost robe to spread it over him.

Mei ignored her.

"I mean I've got to hand it to you," she checked over Borias, finding cold comfort in the still-thready throb of his pulse and the now icy temperature of his skin, "First Daddy Cho kills off your fiancé and keeps everyone quiet about it, then you and big brother take care of papa, and now big brother has you neatly done away with too, leaving him to reign over the island, and the murder conspiracy neatly wrapped up."

"He can not be permitted to get away with this," Mei's voice was steely.

Xena looked up at her, "Oh I have no intention of letting your brother play his little games with me. And Mei," she shook her head, "You can relax, because you still owe me a stone."

"'Relax'?" Mei approached her incredulously, "I do not see how I can 'relax' with two death sentences looming over my head."

"Well," Xena chuckled dryly, "Just look at Borias: cool as a sea cucumber."

The Hun shivered piteously under the silk robe.

Mei's voice lost some of its iron edge as she regarded Borias, "Xena, he is dying."

"Poison'll do that to you," the Warrior Princess snapped, momentarily surprised at her own annoyance.

"I had considered," Mei added, after a few minutes of silence had passed between them, "That it might be truly as you said, that you have never cared anything for this man, and you would abandon him the second your plans were truly ruined. But," Mei tilted her head, considering the strange pair before her, "But even I can see that was a deception as much as anything. And Xena, I have experience in deception."

"Whatever deluded fairy-tale helps you sleep at night Mei," Xena rose and paced over to the bolted door, running her hands along the metal-work, peering out through the small eyehole at the guards posted outside.

"I have," Mei hesitated, "Something which might ease his passing."

Xena turned curiously, to see Mei produce a tiny packet from her sleeve.

"A dose of this drug would end his suffering within the hour."

Before the Warrior Princess could reply, there were the echoing sounds of footsteps from the corridor, and the door to the cell was opened to reveal Cho Chan and an impressive armed entourage of guards. Two men immediately cornered Xena with a spear tip at her throat and another man kept his blade trained on Mei.

Chan strode into the room, the light spring of a conqueror in his step, "Here it ends. Tomorrow morning the whole island will be there to see the Lady Mei, pay for her crimes. And of course the foreign assassins she has hired will meet the same fate," Chan approached his sister, beaming into her face, not even endeavoring to hide his smug satisfaction, "It will be a day to remember for generations."

Mei glared viciously, keeping her head imperiously high, "We will see brother."

Chan chuckled, "Oh yes, you have the Warrior Princess on your side. Or…do you?" Chan imitated confusion, "It IS difficult to tell where the loyalties of one such as that lie…"

Xena remained utterly silent, though her look could have frozen Tartarus over twice.

"She seems to certainly have forgotten about her lover," he stood over Borias, regarding him digustedly, "Guards, get him up."

Mei shot Xena a distressed look, but The Warrior Princess kept her eyes on Borias.

Two men wrenched Borias into an almost standing position between them, as Chan strode forward and wrenched the Hun's head backward by the hair, so that their faces met. Borias shuddered and gasped, rousing enough to look at Chan blearily. Some half muttered curse tumbled from his lips and the guard to his right dealt him a cruel blow that caused him to slump once more dazedly.

Xena strained against her bonds.

Chan turned to her lightly, "I can see why you have abandoned such a useless mongrel."

Chan nodded and the guards dropped Borias to the stone floor. The Hun curled in on himself deliriously trying to protect his damaged body. Another imperious nod, and the guards filed out efficiently, shutting the prisoners alone in the cell once more. When the guards had all gone, Xena hurried to Borias side.

"Borias..." she gingerly reached around and under his shoulders, pulling him upright, so he lay cradled half-sitting against her body. His long dark hair flowed over his broad shoulders, mixing with hers as she rested her forehead against his. She could feel the slight stirring of his breath in the hollow of her neck, and the tremors running in waves along his exhausted body. She took one of his hands in her own, running her thumb along the back of his large hand, tracing the familiar lines of the tattoo there. She frowned watching his laboured breaths. He was dying a painful death as she watched . Something had to be done.

"Mei."

The younger woman drew closer.

"Do you still have those drugs?"


End file.
